Gaming Games as a service has "tripled the industry's value"

A study from monetisation service company Digital River found that games as a service has tripled the industry's value.

The report, Defend Your Kingdom: What Game Publishers Need to Know About Monetization & Fraud, noted that developers of all sizes are benefiting from the "steady stream of in-game content that both serves player expectations and increases their revenue per user."

The report continued: "This does not just apply to free-to-play titles: In 2016, a quarter of all digital revenue from PC games with an upfront cost came from additional content."

These shifting notions of value in the videogame world have irrevocably altered players' spending habits, the report found.

"Consumers are less willing to pay $60 for a boxed game and instead choose titles with a steady stream of new content," the report said. "Publishers seek to meet these expectations and have adopted a 'games as a service' model, releasing fewer titles over time while keeping players engaged longer with regular updates and add-ons."

According to Digital River, this change from up-front costs to protracted spending means that revenue per user is expected to grow twice as fast than the rest of the market. This is backed up by findings that, on average, PC players in the US wait 21 days after they decide they want content before buying in the hopes they can take advantage of a sale.